Assault accused claims he’s been ‘stitched up’

A BUILDER accused of assaulting two brothers has told a jury that he was “being stitched up” by their mother.

Giving evidence at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday, James Menzies angrily refuted claims that he had Sellotaped the woman’s five-year-old son to the ceiling and punched him after zipping him inside a toolbag.

He also rejected an allegation that he made the boy’s 13-year-old brother cry with pain by pinning him to the floor and repeatedly punching him.

Menzies, 35, said: “I’ve had to sit in this courtroom for three days listening to my character being destroyed.”

He claimed the boys’ mother had told her sons what to say in court. He said: “I’m being stitched up. She put them up to this.”

Menzies denies assaulting the primary pupil and locking him in his room. He has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting the youngster’s brother. The trial continues.